The Tans over and under

The only way to shorten the Titans team name is just say the back part, the “‘Tans.” If you just say the front end you’ll liable to get slapped. But enough with such foolishness, what about the over-unders with this game. Here are a few:

Tans’ RB Chris Johnson over/under 100 yards rushing?

Hopefully for the 49ers, Titans RB Chris Johnson won’t be this happy on Sunday.

Frank Gore over/under 100 yards rushing?

Alex Smith over/under 250 yards passing?

Vince Young over/under 200 yards passing?

Who will throw more picks Smith or Young?

FACING THE TITANS’ OFFENSE: In terms of tactics, the best way to defend Young is allow him to stew in the pocket. Keep him in there for four seconds and then he’ll make a mistake, but give him a rush-pass option and he can hurt you. Talk about eight man boxes the 49ers face, how about Tennessee? Johnson is coming off 228 yards rushing and then there’s Young questionable accuracy and decision making. Some believe Amy Winehouse throws it up better than Young. Expect the 49ers to stuff the box like college students in a phone booth.

FACING THE TITANS DEFENSE: When Jimmy Raye was asked if his offense was going to go to a spread, he said no three straight times before answering the question. Nevertheless, this is the week to get some confidence in the passing game. No team gives up more passing yards than the Tans and they are second to last in allowing overall yardage. This is the game to get some first downs and to get in the red zone. The 49ers score in the red zone a league leading 92 percent of the time, but they’ve only been there 12 times this season. Part of the reason they sputter is because they’re 30th in offensive efficiency on first down. In this game, the 49ers should throw on first down 70 percent of the time.

RANDOM NOTES: My man John Crumpacker had an interesting story from former Raiders and Chiefs quarterback Rich Gannon, who played under Raye when Ray coordinated Kansas City’s offense. Gannon, who will do the color commentating tomorrow from Candlestick, said Raye fits his offense to his personnel. We’ll see about that.

Looking over the game last week, you couldn’t help but notice how the Colts defensed Vernon Davis in the second half, when he was held without a catch. They walked a safety or a corner over him and then put another defensive back to his side. But the 49ers never took advantage of this. Often they would put Davis to one side, then put two receivers to the other side. The Colts responded by putting a linebacker over the slotted receiver with help behind the linebacker, but the 49ers never threw to the slotted guy on a short route.

Also, in the first drive of the second half, cornerback Kelvin Hayden injured his shoulder and left the game. But the 49ers never went after his replacement, rookie Jarraud Powers. It makes you wonder about the team’s ability to adjust quickly.

What needs to improve for Alex Smith is his vision. Sometimes he spots the open man right away, and sometimes he doesn’t. At one point when Smith threw the ball away, commentator Tim Ryan tried to show that all the 49ers receivers were covered, instead the replay showed Isaac Bruce open down the right hash and Michael Crabtree so open on a post-corner route on the backside, he was waving his hands for the ball.

One final thought, let Brandon Jones be your third receiver for this game. Isaac Bruce has been struggling and Jones will want to embarrass his former team. Also Jones knows the Titans defensive backs well. Jones, by the way, said the Titans really missed Albert Haynesworth and the injury early in the season to cornerback Courtland Finnegan also hurt them. Finnegan returned last week after missing three games.